Thursday, 7 April 2011
Textual analysis
Textual analysis – Train spotting
During the first two minutes of Trainspotting’s intro we can see many key textual analysis points. For example, we can see that there are many interesting shots that are used straight away that help the audience see what kind of characters are in the film. This can be seen with a shot of the characters as they run away dropping things as they go along, this suggests they are running away from someone and that they don’t care about the items they lose. This I think shows the representation of the characters as they are in some sort of trouble and just want to escape. These shots also show a sense of adrenaline running through the characters at this point which I think makes the audience feel this way as well This combined with the use of a tracking shot helps to enhance the shot showing the speed at which the characters are running. This shows the audience their desperation to get away but the fact that they are laughing as they do this could suggest that they are hyped up on drugs at this point. Other shots help with this in the intro for example when the main character who is narrating this scene jumps down some stairs which is shot in a looking up shot to make the jump look as if it is from much higher up. The following shot is then a tracking shot of him as he continues to run away but it has a slight handheld feel to it which again link back to the point I made about the adrenaline. A connotation of the hand held movement could be the characters unstable health.
The whole film is about a group abusing heroin and we see the full effects of this during the film. We can see the kind of people these characters are straight away in the film as they run away. This suggests that they have stolen items from a shop to then sell so they can feed their habit. This is why think, during the intro, the director chooses to use fast hand held shots with loud Diegetic music to show the rush that the characters are on due to the abuse of heroin. I think that this is made louder to show just how hyped up the characters are as they will be more alert, jumpy and paranoid.
The music in the intro helps with the points made above but also shows the audience that the director has chosen to aim his film at, young people of a similar age to the characters of the film. The reason that this thought comes to mind is at the time of the film’s release, the song that is playing would have been released around the same time and this would help to attract the audience that the music is aimed at.
During the intro we can work out what kind of people the characters are from the mise en scene, and the easiest one is the costumes. During the clip we see the main group of friends in the film playing a small football match. During this match they are playing a serious team as we can tell from the matching kit whilst they are playing in the casual clothes. This helps show the representation of the characters as it shows they don’t care and just want to play for a laugh. Whilst the game goes on we see a lot of cheating from the main characters team, this could once again show that they don’t care about the result. This could reflect back on the characters status. This could show that they can get a high from playing football as well as taking drugs, so maybe they play this game when they are not busy getting high, to get a good feeling.
In conclusion I can see that the films intro has many aspects of its genre, Social Realism.
During the first two minutes of Trainspotting’s intro we can see many key textual analysis points. For example, we can see that there are many interesting shots that are used straight away that help the audience see what kind of characters are in the film. This can be seen with a shot of the characters as they run away dropping things as they go along, this suggests they are running away from someone and that they don’t care about the items they lose. This I think shows the representation of the characters as they are in some sort of trouble and just want to escape. These shots also show a sense of adrenaline running through the characters at this point which I think makes the audience feel this way as well This combined with the use of a tracking shot helps to enhance the shot showing the speed at which the characters are running. This shows the audience their desperation to get away but the fact that they are laughing as they do this could suggest that they are hyped up on drugs at this point. Other shots help with this in the intro for example when the main character who is narrating this scene jumps down some stairs which is shot in a looking up shot to make the jump look as if it is from much higher up. The following shot is then a tracking shot of him as he continues to run away but it has a slight handheld feel to it which again link back to the point I made about the adrenaline. A connotation of the hand held movement could be the characters unstable health.
The whole film is about a group abusing heroin and we see the full effects of this during the film. We can see the kind of people these characters are straight away in the film as they run away. This suggests that they have stolen items from a shop to then sell so they can feed their habit. This is why think, during the intro, the director chooses to use fast hand held shots with loud Diegetic music to show the rush that the characters are on due to the abuse of heroin. I think that this is made louder to show just how hyped up the characters are as they will be more alert, jumpy and paranoid.
The music in the intro helps with the points made above but also shows the audience that the director has chosen to aim his film at, young people of a similar age to the characters of the film. The reason that this thought comes to mind is at the time of the film’s release, the song that is playing would have been released around the same time and this would help to attract the audience that the music is aimed at.
During the intro we can work out what kind of people the characters are from the mise en scene, and the easiest one is the costumes. During the clip we see the main group of friends in the film playing a small football match. During this match they are playing a serious team as we can tell from the matching kit whilst they are playing in the casual clothes. This helps show the representation of the characters as it shows they don’t care and just want to play for a laugh. Whilst the game goes on we see a lot of cheating from the main characters team, this could once again show that they don’t care about the result. This could reflect back on the characters status. This could show that they can get a high from playing football as well as taking drugs, so maybe they play this game when they are not busy getting high, to get a good feeling.
In conclusion I can see that the films intro has many aspects of its genre, Social Realism.
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